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Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which we become more mindful of our children and, in doing so, experience a more joyful life.
The Mindful Parent is an organization devoted to sharing with parents and other child caregivers ways in which to enhance the many joys of parenting.  By mindfully attending to our children, both when we are physically present with them and when we are physically separated from them, we can enhance our sense of connection to them and, in turn, our connection to the cosmos.  This makes us a better parent, a happier person, and a more vital human being.
 
To facilitate a more mindful approach to parenting, The Mindful Parent publishes on its website, and in its bi-weekly newsletter, mindful parenting verses and commentaries.  The Mindful Parent website also serves as a community forum that encourages and supports a mindful parenting dialogue and the sharing of mindful parenting experiences.
 
In the spirit of developing a mindful parenting community, we encourage you to submit a mindful parenting experience through verse, commentary, and imagery to share with others.  We believe that through our collective experience, we can help each other develop a deeper and more meaningful mindful parenting practice. Click here to learn more about making a submssion.  We thank everyone who has contributed or is considering making this very compassionate contribution.

Click here to learn what recent events are taking place and of changes to The Mindful Parent website.  Please contact us with your questions about mindful parenting or to share a mindful parenting experience.  We are devoted to working with you to enhance your ability to "be" with your children, and to experience the bliss that awaits you.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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(c) 2003-2004 Zen Health.  All rights reserved.
The Mindful Parent is a servicemark of Zen Health.
From the Archives
Sunday July 4, 2004
Today's Sip:  Open to Your Child's Evolving Independence
 
The story is a familiar one.  The child grows up and leaves home.  The intimate bonds between parent and child become a source of friction as the child reacts against them, looking for independence, while the parent resists letting go.  Deep down both parent and child have mixed feelings.  In some cases, the relationship breaks down entirely.  In others it sours.  Then, with the bonds severed, the relationship remerges strong and healthy; parent and child become two autonomous beings.
 
The forever evolving parent-child relationship continues to tug and pull in the seemingly opposing directions of intimacy and independence.  The practice of mindful parenting opens awareness so that intimacy and independence naturally evolve in a manner that allows them to comfortably coexist.
 
But the process of "separation" is not one that happens all of a sudden.  It progresses slowly, with every passing day of your child's life.  It merely ripens during adolescence and early adulthood.  By opening awareness to the subtle shifts that continually take place, you can more easily absorb the separation.  As a result, intimate bonds of deep connection are not compromised.
 
Today, see whether you can identify some of your child’s behavior as part of a search for independence.  Looking deeply into your child's actions, you can better understand your child and respond with greater awareness of what is actually motivating him or her. 
 
Breathe deeply as you absorb the beauty of your child's self-expression, embracing its eventual consequence with an open heart.
 
 
 
 
 
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